Grey Expands West Coast OperationsGrey Expands West Coast Operations

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WPP’s Grey has moved to trendy Venice, Calif. and brought a big Cannes winner along for the ride.

Today worldwide CCO John Patroulis announced that Rodrigo Jatene, who led Grey Brazil as co-president and creative chief for the past four years, has relocated to head up the agency’s West division in L.A. and San Francisco in the newly created CCO role.

In that endeavor, Jatene will partner with Grey West president Alex Morrison while working with a client roster that currently includes Nestlé, Fitbit, Hasbro, Amazon and FX Networks, among others.

Grey was one of four agencies to win new business in the recently concluded Nestlé USA creative review. And while the company previously had an L.A. presence, the lease on its new Venice location started this month.

“Rodrigo has been leading some of the most compelling work in the world recently, with technology and a careful humanity at the core of everything he does,” read a statement from Patroulius, who called the incoming CCO “perfect for Grey West.”

The news comes one month after Grey Brazil won big at Cannes, bringing home a Mobile Grand Prix and another Gold Lion for its “Corruption Detector,” an app using facial recognition technology to call out Brazil’s dirtiest politicians. Overall, Jatene’s work brought home 15 Lions.

“I thought it was time for a new adventure,” Jatene told Adweek. “I want to expand the boundaries of what we can do, and I think there’s no better place than the West Coast,” he said, noting the influence of the entertainment, film and technology industries on both the agency business and culture at large.